Asia Cup 2022: 3 reasons behind Virat Kohli's consistency so far in the tournament
Virat Kohli's scores in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 so far read 35, 59*, and 60. This comes as good news for India and the former captain ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup set to be played in Australia later this year.
The 154 runs he's scored from the three matches India have played so far puts Kohli second on the list of batters with the most runs in the continental tournament. Pakistan opener Muhammad Rizwan leads the pack with 192 runs at an average of 96.00 and a strike rate of 128.
The talismanic Indian batter currently averages 77.00 and is striking at 126.22 — close enough to Rizwan. While he's still not vintage Virat Kohli, the form that seems to have deserted him for a couple of years now, looks to be back by every game.
While India may have lost to Pakistan in the Super 4 stage, Kohli's approach hinted that he was all aligned with India's new approach to T20 cricket. The ultra-aggresive move to keep finding the fence — something Eoin Morgan's England did in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, which they eventually won.
"Today I was making a conscious effort to strike at a higher pace," he said in the post-match press conference. "When we lost wickets, there was communication and our plans changed, where I had to bat till the 18th over with Hooda.
"If there were a couple of batters, I would've gone with the same tempo and tried to hit more boundaries and more sixes. I ended up being in a situation where I had to go deep," Kohli added.
So what's worked for Kohli apart from going bang-bang from ball one as is the gung-ho method adapted by the side? Here are our three reasons.
#1 Virat Kohli's back to his familiar slot
Virat Kohli made the No.3 slot in ODIs and T20Is his own after a decade of consistent run-making. The slot is of second nature and the 2623 runs he's scored at an average of 55.81 and a strike rate of 135.35 shows his comfort level in place.
Here's a look at his runs through the positions he's batted in his T20I career for India:
India did try him as an opener though, where he's had some success, but the numbers show that Kohli is at his best at No.3, whether he's helping India set a total or chasing it down.
#2 The 1s and 2s are back
The IPL 2022 saw Virat Kohli keen to get every ball he faced to the fence. It wasn't ideal, and it didn't work for him. In all three games he has played so far in the Asia Cup, his trademark ones and twos were a hallmark as he looked to keep the scoreboard ticking even as India kept scoring and losing wickets.
In the match against Hong Kong, his first boundary came after he reached double figures, meaning the wait was on and he was content to nudge the ball around.
#3 The break seems to have worked out well
After missing out on a couple of series, the break seems to have worked in Virat Kohli's favor. His body language at the crease, his fluency in his stroke-making (the timing will surely come back), and more importantly, the runs are all in-tune.
With India having a crammed schedule after the Asia Cup 2022, the think-tank will expect him to be at his best. His form so far in the tournament has been consistent and with virtually less rest period between tours, it remains to be seen if he can carry on the newfound consistency.